Word: epstein
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...infectious diseases humans will have to contend with as the world gets warmer, malaria may be the worst. Malaria is already the world's most widespread mosquito-borne illness. Rising temperatures will not only expand the range of Anopheles mosquitoes, but make them more active biters as well. Paul Epstein, an epidemiologist with the Harvard School of Public Health, notes that a temperature rise of 4 [degrees] F would more than double mosquito metabolism, forcing them to feed more often. A 4 [degrees] F rise in global temperatures could also expand malaria's domain from...
...same synergies that empower microbes also weaken our defenses against them. Heat, increased ultraviolet radiation resulting from ozone depletion, and pollutants like chlorinated hydrocarbons all suppress the disease-battling immune systems--both for humans and for other animals. Epstein, who is one of the principal authors of the upcoming WHO study, notes that in recent years variants of the class of viruses that includes measles have killed seals in the North Sea, lions in the Serengeti and horses in Australia--three very different animals widely scattered around the globe...
...common denominator in each case: abnormal weather had caused malnutrition, weakened animal immune systems and spurred the reproduction of viruses. Epstein also notes that once ordinarily benign microbes invade weakened animals, they can become sufficiently deadly to invade healthy populations. The real threat for people, says Epstein, may not be a single disease, but armies of emergent microbes raising havoc among a host of creatures. "The message I take home," he says, "is that diseases afflicting plants and animals can send ripples through economies and societies no less disastrous than those affecting humans...
...small but persistent group of critics, many of them supported by the oil and coal industries, still don't buy it. S. Fred Singer, president of the industry-funded Science and Environment Policy Project, argues that Epstein and his colleagues fail to note the positive health benefits of warmer nights and winters. Others, like John Shlaes, executive director of the Global Climate Coalition, suggest that when the world is faced with the pressing health problems stemming from overcrowded cities and the collapse of sanitation systems, the threat of disease caused by climate change may seem like a minor concern...
...Report on the Structure of Harvard College recommended replacing the positions held by PBH executive director Greg Johnson '72 and Director of the Office of Public Services Gail Epstein with a new position of assistant dean of public service...